Thursday, February 8, 2007

Those of you who have not yet watched last night's episode of 'Lost', which returned to the airwaves after a 13 week hiatus, had best scroll down to some other Toobworld post right now or better yet, perhaps leave altogether and come back after you've watched it. Because we're about to discuss a key plot point that should be kept as a surprise full of shock and awe.

Alas! For me, one who is spoiler-addicted, it was too late; I knew about it months ago. But it's not too late for you, dear reader! Scroll! Save yourselves!

You have been warned....

When the representative from Mittelos BioScience asked what could be done to remove any roadblocks from Juliet's acceptance of their job offer, she acidly joked that it would take a bus hitting her ex-husband to make it possible.

Later, after she told her ex, Edmund Burke, that her experiments to get her cancer-stricken sister pregnant succeeded, they argued over whether or not to go public with the news. (He was only interested in the fame and glory the success would bring them, and even then he was only getting half-credit because he was blackmailing her.)

At the corner, he stepped out into the street and then turned to continue the argument, only to be mowed down by a fast-moving bus - just as Juliet had requested.

Sound familiar?

This is from an episode of 'nip/tuck' ("Faith Wolper, Ph.D.") which aired in October, 2006:

(Outside the office; Monica is heading across the street when Sean comes out of the office)Sean: Monica, wait! You’re being irrational! Let’s talk about this.Monica Wilder: (stops in the middle of the road) You should worry more about what Julia’s going to say when I go to the police and tell them what you did!(A bus comes out of nowhere and flattens her)

[Transcript courtesy of TV.com]

However, within the reality of Toobworld, it cannot be said that 'Lost' ripped off 'nip/tuck'. (And even outside of it the argument might not hold up - they could have been written around the same time, if not produced concurrently as well). That's because the scene in 'Lost' was taking place about five years ago - for Juliet, it happened over 3 years and two months before the events on the island. And the events in "real" time on 'Lost' are only up to December of 2004.

For 'nip/tuck', the events are pretty much concurrent with the date of each episode's broadcast unless otherwise stated, as is the case with most TV shows (save for historical productions and space operas).

Getting back within the shows' realities, it could be that the good people of Mittelos BioScience arranged for that bus to bitch-smack Monica as well. (I should point out that the representative denied ever having anything to do with Dr. Burke's "accident". Shyeah, right!) Hey, if something works, ya gotta stick with it.

But why would they have done so? Perhaps it was because they had an ulterior motive in keeping the plastic surgery business of Drs. Troy and McNamara scandal-free. Of course, at the same time as Monica Wilder was rearing her not-so-ugly head with her obsession over Sean, Christian was getting involved more deeply with the wife of the firm's new owner - which also could have ramifications against the firm. Because, unbeknownst to Christian and Sean, Michelle's former "pimp" was using the facility in her scheme to harvest organs for a black market transplant operation.

It could be that Mittelos BioScience analyzed the situation and manipulated events from behind the scenes so that it would eventually play itself out with McNamara/Troy (Troy/McNamara?) in the clear. On the other hand, the Monica Wilder situation threatened to blossom into a wildfire and needed immediate containment; hence, the bus.

Why would Mittelos BioScience need a couple of plastic surgeons, who - while skilled artisans in their field - were not possessive of extraordinary advancements in medical research?

By the end of this past season for 'nip/tuck', Drs. McNamara & Troy had moved to Hollywood to practice their trade. Now they were faced with being the small fish in a big pond, whereas in Miami they were the best of the best. Sure, they both needed the change in locale after nearly nuking their personal lives back in Florida, but it could be that once again Mittelos BioScience (o'bviously an off-shoot of Hanso Industries) manipulated their decision behind the scenes. This would bring them closer to where the corporation really needed them - at the Los Angeles end of their nefarious operation's Sydney-L.A. route.

To what end? Who knows? Perhaps one of the Others returning from the two islands would need plastic surgery to bury his or her past identity. As the late Clyde Bruckman would say on 'The X-Files', "How the hell would I know?"

In fact, I don't want to know. I don't want to get hit by a bus.....

Stepping outside the TV Universe altogether, this same scenario occurs in the movie 'Mean Girls'. And of course, it happened all the time over in the Tooniverse whenever Wile E. Coyote stood in front of that painted tunnel on the rock wall.

Beep Beep!

BCnU!Tele-Toby

PS:'Lost' is one of those shows that sends me running to one of those anagram sites you can find online. (The two-part season ender for 'Torchwood' was the same, whatwith a character by the name of "Bilis Manger" - "I am Nils Berg", "brings email", "big minerals", "rising blame", "glib marines" or "grim lesbian". You decide. Yeah, being 'Torchwood', I went with that one, too.....)

Anyway, I ran the word "Mittelos" through the program and four responses caught my eye:

Lost Time - Time has played a big role on this show. In fact, in last night's episode, an Other was reading "A Brief History Of Time" by Dr. Stephen Hawking.Lost Item - A lot of items have played their part in this show: buttons, glass eyes, keys, books. Perhaps 'Lost' has some kind of kinship with last year's mini-series 'The Lost Room'.....Time Slot - Well, the show was moved back to the 10 pm hour to avoid the juggernaut of that vile and stupid 'American Idol'.....and finally,Motliest - As good a word as any to describe the make-up of the Castaways group......

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Just An Old Cowhand On The TiVo Grande

As the Trickster once said, "Reality is boring, that's why I change it whenever I can."
I'm just "The Man Who Viewed Too Much", and "Inner Toob" is a blog exploring and celebrating the 'reality' of an alternate universe in which everything that ever happened on TV actually takes place.
Most of my theories about the TV Universe come from thinking inside the box and thus can't be proven. But I've never been one to shy away from a tall tale.....
Remember: "The more you watch, the more you've seen!"